There is one more section of the northern Exumas that we have yet to explore, so after provisioning and doing laundry we anchor off Pipe Cay for a number of nights. At times we are alone, but other times have a few boats for company. Our daily routine tends to be boat chores and maintenance in the morning and exploration in the afternoon. And this area has much to offer. We are no longer in the park, but rather just south of its boarders, so there is more development and fishing and lobstering is allowed. Pipe Cay, Compass Cay, and a few other smaller cays provide the western boundary for the Pipe Creek area while Joe, Thomas and Over Yonder Cays provide eastern protection. In the middle are an array of tidal channels, tiny cays, and sand bores; it’s nirvana for dinghy exploration and “eye candy photography” with colors of the water, sky, and land forms defying description.
As mentioned, the area is more developed than in the park, and only two cays allow access ashore to cruisers. Thomas Cay sports the Pipe Creek Yacht Club, a conglomeration of found treasures and a few beach chairs arranged on a crescent beach. It is a gathering place for the few boats who brave the winding channels and coral heads to actually anchor in the Creek.
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| The ritzy Pipe Creek Yacht Club |
From the yacht club, a trail leads to the eastern shore and a spectacular overlook on to Exuma Sound.
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| Burt surveys Exuma Sound from the cliff on Thomas Cay |
We find pockets in the rocks that are shell nurseries. Each of the living shells are less than ½ inch in size and a perfect replica of what one usually finds on the beach.
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| The sea shell nursery |
On Pipe Cay one is welcome to wander among the ruins of the old US Navy DECCA station. Not much remains except a pier and barracks but we are told that the station was used in World War II for some sort of navigational radio work.
The private Cays are more impressive and we motor along them, investigating how the other half lives. These are vacation homes for very wealthy Bahamians and foreigners, and all are beautifully maintained. Over Yonder Cay is the home of an American mathematician who developed an algorithm used in Wall Street trading. He now gets a royalty from each trade which puts him in the gazillionaire category. His one bedroom home of many thousand square feet is atop the island and is surrounded by a number of large villas, interspersed with manicured beaches, along the shore for his guests and children. His private harbor can handle island freighters and all power on the cay is provided by three industrial sized windmills and a huge array of solar panels.
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| Over Yonder Cay - owner's villa on left, smaller villa right center and solar array in between |
On a slightly smaller scale but perhaps more attractive, we find Little Pipe Cay. It has several more moderately sized Bahamian style villas, more manicured beaches sporting teak chaises and umbrellas, a lodge, docking for mega-yacht sized boats, staff housing, and a charming stone chapel for the resident staff. It is a gem and, now, up for sale at the reduced price of $74 million. We won’t be calling the realtor, but it seems reasonable compared to other opportunities we have witnessed for spending your spare change.
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| The more tasteful Little Pipe Cay |
Other cays have dockage with traditional styled Bahamian homes and more beautiful beaches.
The real joy of exploring Pipe Creek is on the water. The sand bores wind between deep blue channels and turquoise sand shallows. Take a walk on a bore and you in on the softest, most powdery pure sand you could ever find. One bore protects a sliver of water in which we find two local boats anchored – from a distance you would think they were aground on the sand.
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| Spectacular sand bores in Pipe Creek |
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| And more sand bores |
Near the cuts to Exuma Sound, where the currents run swift, there are patch reefs worthy of snorkeling, but it’s a bit too cool and breezy to entice us in the water so we look via a viewing bucket to see colorful soft corals, brain corals galore, and an assortment of tropical fish. A huge eagle ray, at least six feet across, swims along with our dinghy.
Our last day in this area is spent at Compass Cay. This cay is home to a moderate sized marina and a few rental villas, but is open to non-guests for a small fee. Its primary attraction is the school of resident nurse sharks. This is my opportunity to confront one of my deepest fears by touching and wading with the sharks. At high tide the sharks swim on to a dock that is about a foot below the water surface. There they lay resting and hoping for a little human attention. We tentatively walk down the steps and reach out to scratch them on the top of their heads. They seem to like it and others swim up for some “petting”. Of course, the skeptic in me is asking what else they are after – I doubt anyone really knows what is going through the minds of these beady eyed sharks.
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| Do we look relaxed while petting the sharks? |
Later in the day a tour group comes in and their guides chum the water while they stand amidst the feeding frenzy.
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| The feeding frenzy |
The sharks apparently have no taste for human flesh but their feeding activity is amazing. Nurse sharks don’t bite their food; rather they rapidly suck it in with a loud pffft sound and a spray of water. I finally get in the water with the now well fed sharks and they lazily swim around me. Burt records all on video for posterity and I exit the water with elevated blood pressure.
Beside the sharks there is excellent hiking on the cay. We take a 2 ½ mile hike to the northern end, sometimes along a rocky ridge and other times along untouched beaches.
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| The Exuma Sound coast of Compass Cay |
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| The view along the eastern coast of Compass Cay |
Our destination is Rachel’s Bubble Bath, a formation that allows surf from Exuma Sound to crash over a rock ledge at high tide and bubble into a lagoon. Since we have seen no one on the trail, we assume we will be alone at Rachel’s and plan to change into swimsuits once there. But, alas, we arrive to see four others enjoying the Bubble Bath, and by the time we find a suitable changing place, the tide is down and the bubbles gone.
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| Rachel's Bubble Bath with just a little surf left |
All is not lost, though, as the two couples offer to give us a dinghy ride back to the marina, a real blessing for me as my knee is taking a toll from the rough terrain. After a cheeseburger in paradise at the marina, overlooking the ever present sharks, we spend a relaxing afternoon on a deserted mile long crescent beach of pure sand.
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| Where do you find such a beautiful beach all to yourself? |
The weather starts to turn, and we begin to hear rumors on the VHF radio that the mail/supply boat will be coming into the area shortly so we make a beeline back to Staniel Cay in the hopes of scoring fresh produce and other necessities. Here in the Bahamas your plans are controlled by weather and availability of food, something you never thought of when living ashore.
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| An oncoming squall chases us back to Exuberant |
